ESPN Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Record ratings for U.S.-Canada final of 4 Nations Face-Off
Thursday's 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada marked the largest audience for a hockey game ever on ESPN, the network announced Friday.,The game, in which Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in an overtime thriller, garnered 9.3 million viewers, with 10.4 million viewers ...
MLB, ESPN opt out of TV deal for 2026-28 seasons
ESPN and Major League Baseball will no longer be partners following the 2025 season, as the sides agreed to mutually opt out of their broadcast contract Thursday.,MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sent a memo to clubs that was obtained by The Athletic, in which he confirmed ESPN had asked the league to "...
Joe Buck to call Yankees-Brewers on Opening Day
Joe Buck will be on the play-by-play call of his first national baseball game since 2021 when the New York Yankees host the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day.,ESPN will air the game on March 27 at 3 p.m. ET.,The most noted baseball announcer of his generation, Buck's last national broadcast was the 2...
Report: Joe Buck to call Yankees-Brewers on Opening Day
Joe Buck will be on the play-by-play call of his first national baseball game since 2021 when the New York Yankees host the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day, The Athletic reported Tuesday.,ESPN will air the game on March 27.,The most noted baseball announcer of his generation, Buck's last national b...
Report: ESPN to give up F1 rights after 2025
ESPN's relationship with Formula 1 racing is on its last lap.,Puck News reported Friday that ESPN will not pursue the U.S. broadcast rights to F1 once the network's media deal expires after the 2025 season.,ESPN has aired F1 races since 2018 and is entering the final year of a three-year extension t...
Report: Shaq returning to TNT on deal topping $15M annually
Shaquille O'Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than $15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported Friday.,The news means the cast of "Inside the NBA" is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season.,TNT was the odd network ou...
Luka Doncic's Lakers debut scores ESPN huge ratings
Luka Doncic's debut with the Los Angeles Lakers scored massive ratings for ESPN despite coming in a game that started at 10:30 p.m. ET and whose result was never in doubt. ,The network's audience for Monday night's game -- a 132-113 Lakers victory over the Utah Jazz -- peaked at 2.55 million viewers...
Report: ESPN ending Top Rank Boxing deal
ESPN doesn't intend to renew its deal with promoter Top Rank Boxing when it expires in August, Front Office Sports reported Tuesday.,Top Rank and ESPN signed their initial deal in 2017. The following year, the two sides agreed on a seven-year contract in which ESPN would broadcast 54 events annually...
Randy Moss returns to ESPN set amid cancer battle
Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss made his return to ESPN on Sunday, joining the "Sunday NFL Countdown" crew in New Orleans amid his battle with cancer.,Moss had been on leave from the weekly pregame show since announcing Dec. 6 that he was taking time away to address a health issue...
ESPN sees best January ratings in a decade
The first month of 2025 saw ESPN record its highest viewership numbers in a decade, fueled by the NFL playoffs and the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.,ESPN reported an average of 1.6 million viewers throughout the entire month of January, marking the network's best average minute audience...
ESPN picks up option on ACC contract through 2036
ESPN has agreed to exercise its option to continue broadcasting Atlantic Coast Conference sporting events through 2036, the network reported on Thursday.,ESPN had until Feb. 1 to pick up the option on a 20-year contract it signed in 2016. The deal would have ended after the 2027 season had the netwo...
Dick Vitale's return to broadcasting on hold after accident
Just one day after announcing an anticipated comeback, Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale said he will have to delay his return due to a health issue unrelated to the cancer that has kept him out of the booth since 2023.,In a statement posted by ESPN, Vitale said he suffered an accident at his hom...
Dick Vitale to make broadcasting return Jan. 25
It's awesome, baby. ,Dick Vitale received his first broadcasting assignment from ESPN this season, marking his return to the air for the first time since 2023. Vitale battled four types of cancer for more than three years and is only months removed from a 2024 surgery to address a lymph node in his ...
TGL debut draws nearly 1M viewers, tops LIV ratings
This week's debut of the TGL indoor golf league drew nearly a million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen numbers reported Thursday by Front Office Sports.,Even though league co-founders Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were not in action, Tuesday night's broadcast attracted an average of 919,000 view...
Dick Vitale cleared for return to sideline, broadcasting role at ESPN
A month after trumpeting Dickie V is cancer-free, legendary college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale said Wednesday he has been cleared by doctors to return to the sideline and call games for ESPN. ,"Just had scope of my vocal cords & I was very emotional with the great report by Dr ZEITELS . He s...
UFC on ESPN 63: Colby Covington underdog vs. Joaquin Buckley
The UFC will hold its final event of 2024 with UFC on ESPN 63 at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Saturday night, which includes a main event between former welterweight title challenger Colby Covington and rising contender Joaquin Buckley.,Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), whose most recent title challenge e...
Dick Vitale says he’s cancer-free once again
Longtime ESPN college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale announced Thursday he is cancer-free after his fourth diagnosis in four years.,Vitale, 85, revealed in June that he needed surgery to address lymph node cancer, just six months after beating his previous cancer diagnosis.,"SANTA CLAUS came ear...
ESPN's Randy Moss taking leave for health reasons
Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss is taking an extended leave of absence from his role as an ESPN NFL analyst to focus on a "personal health challenge," the network said Friday.,Moss, 47, raised concerns on Sunday in an Instagram post in which he asked fans to pray for him and his family.,Withou...
Jason Kelce gets ESPN late-night show
Move over Jimmy Kimmel. Jason Kelce is taking to late-night TV starting in January, but viewers will need to stay up past midnight to see his new show. ,ESPN plans to tape the live-audience studio show, "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce," on Fridays starting Jan. 3 through the end of the NFL...
Shams Charania to replace Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN
ESPN hired Shams Charania as its next senior NBA insider on Monday, tapping the 30-year-old to succeed his mentor Adrian Wojnarowski, who announced his retirement from journalism last month.,"I am honored to join ESPN ... I can't wait to be part of an incredible group of colleagues at ESPN and serve...